Welcome to the April 2025 chat.  Spring has definitely sprung, as demonstrated by bluebells in the woods, and the Summer Series kicking off.  It signals an end to a busy winter for Wessex.

As always thank you to you all for your continued support to put on great orienteering events.

Spine Race Report – Hannah

After an amazing 53rd place overall (8th woman) in the Winter Spine Race, Wessex’s very own Hannah answered some questions about her experience.  The race was basically the whole Pennine Way, starting on Sunday 12^th February, and Hanna did it in 152:41:51. Not bad going for 268 miles. I’m not convinced Marvel Studios is going to be taking up her superhero “No Sleep Woman” any time soon, but what an achievement (if this does not make sense to you, read what Hanna says)!

What motivated you to participate in this event?

I had heard about the Spine a few years before and really just wanted to see if I could do it. I fancied giving myself a challenge and, as strange as it sounds, I get a thrill out of seeing how far I can get with suffering and grit and determination. I’ve helped on races before and really enjoyed the atmosphere and wanted to see it from the other side.

Can you describe your training regimen leading up to the event?

This ended up not being as structured or as comprehensive as I wanted however, I did a fair few long coast path walks and hours in the new forest, learnt to eat on the go, practiced trying different snacks to see what agreed with me. Days which would normalise long distances were helpful. The main things that helped were long walks in the dark to get used to moving by head torch and working for the NHS…..night shifts were probably the best (unplanned) training that helped the most of all. Being able to cope physically and mentally with missing night’s sleep was key.

What advice would you give a fellow orienteer who wanted to do something like this?

Go for it. We are capable of more than we think we are. Don’t overthink it, if you want to do something that you think is a bit mad or “too hard”, ask what’s the worst that could happen. It’s very easy to talk yourself out of doing events because you think it will be too hard, the hardest thing is signing up and once that’s done you just go with the flow.

What was the most challenging moment during the event, and how did you overcome it?

Slogging through bog in the north Pennines and constantly falling over with shoes being sucked off and getting stuck. This was really miserable and exhausting and the bog went on for HOURS. In the end putting some good music on and just getting into a zone of plodding helped and the hours soon disappeared. Also leaving my clean socks bag and warm layer bag at the first checkpoint. It did eventually make it to a later checkpoint but it was a sad moment at the middle checkpoints not to have clean socks to put on.

With the benefit of hindsight, what would you do differently?

I would vary my snacks more, I soon got bored of the snacks I bought and lost interest in eating them. Towards the end it was a chore to eat and that didn’t help energy levels. I would also bring a warmer sleeping bag and accept the slightly heavier weight for the benefit of sleeping better.

What strategies do you use to maintain focus and stay motivated throughout the race?

Breaking the distance down into chunks. At no point did I think about the whole distance, in fact half the time I couldn’t tell you how long the overall thing was. I had split it into 50km odd distances which became much more mentally manageable and all I had to focus on was getting to the next checkpoint.

Can you share any tips for preventing injuries during training and the event itself?

Build up distance gradually, and with the spine it was more about hours on the feet rather than speed. Probably obvious but keeping on top of foot care. I became sloppy with it as I got more tired and got a couple of blisters as a result.

If you could have any superpower to help you during a race, what would it be and why?

The ability not to need any sleep. The tiredness was really tough, pure exhaustion like I’ve never felt before ….falling asleep against a sign post perched on the smallest bit of rock and hearing my voice being shouted through the fog when there was no-one around and the hallucinations was a weird experience. At one point I was so tired I had to sit down in the middle of the path and lull my head to the side and have a power nap as I was seeing all the rocks as odd-shaped animals. One poor check point volunteer had to console me as I had a full-on sobbing melt-down for forgetting something in my bag, I was deliriously tired and had no control over my emotions but soon picked it up and just kept plodding.

How do you feel after completing such a gruelling race, both physically and emotionally?

Immediately afterwards I was so exhausted I burst into tears at the end checkpoint, through shear tiredness. Once this passed it was overwhelming excitement and buzzing from having finished and being able to read the messages that had been sent through. About a week later you feel invincible and like you could do it all over again (as your brain forgets just how tough it was) and then a few weeks later a strange feeling of “what now’ starts, with a feeling of going back to normal routine and thinking about what the next adventure might be. Physically I was surprised with how I felt. I was on night shift the day after getting home and was able to hobble around in crocs without too much problem. I now have far less toenails and I’m not sure they will ever recover but other than that physically recovered pretty

Wessex Unsung Heroes – Alan Hooper

Alan joined WSX in 1984, and after a successful career as a Chartered Electrical Engineer specialising in Electronics, he now applies his wide skillset to furthering orienteering technology on behalf of Wessex.

Before pcs and laptops were around, he developed a finish system programmed from an old programmable calculator and some custom scrap microprocessor chips. It recorded finish times and synchronised to the old control cards via cloakroom tickets. In fact, it worked so well it was copied by Mike Nelson of BOK. Additionally, he worked with Bill Brown to use a CSV file to automatically convert maps to current symbology, as orienteering was plagued with old and custom symbols.

In the past Alan has been Secretary, Chairman and a Level 3 Controller.

Coming up to the present day, everyone in Wessex knows the drill.  We plan events and, on the day, whatever the weather we run around putting out SI control boxes, stakes and kites.  We run the event, download the results and then collect it all back in again.  Have you ever stopped to consider that these control boxes do their job, month after month, without missing a beat. How does this happen? The answer is simple…. Alan keeping our control boxes in good shape.  This means monitoring their health and changing batteries when required (they last for between 5-10 years, tending to the shorter end of the range due to the additional demands of SIAC). The control boxes are sealed units, so it’s not the same as just changing the AAA batteries in the remote.  Additionally, he frustratingly repairs control boxes that have broken, mainly by being dropped or thrown onto hard surfaces. So please take care of these important and expensive items (they cost around £120 each).

Alan Hooper…… WSX salutes you.

Photos, photos, photos

Whenever we get the opportunity to publicise what we do, there is always a need for great photos.  I know it’s sometimes difficult to go beyond the traditional group of people milling round the start, but please use your imaginations.  At the last Committee we discussed the idea of someone being specifically responsible for this at all our events, as often everyone is too busy.  We need to be able to convey the fun and excitement of our sport, so if you are a keen photographer, let us know.

Wessex Region Night League (WRNL)

The final WRNL event was held in Lymington, followed by the prizegiving.  A big thank you to James for pulling the results together.  Thank you to everyone who got involved from Wessex, running, planning or helping.  These fantastic events wouldn’t happen without you all.

Congratulations to all the Wessex team winners:

• Lyra won the Women’s Open
• Esk was the to Women’s Junior
• Alan came 2^nd on Men’s Open
• Oliver was the top Men’s Junior
• Julie was 3^rd in the Age Graded Women

Considering that 107 competitors representing 12 different clubs were involved, it underlines how good the above performances were.

CSC & Wessex On Tour

On Sunday 23rd February, a crack Team WSX (under team captain James) stepped out at the Compass Sport SW Qualifier at Croydon Hill, Near Minehead.  At the 11^th hour Quantocks had to replan the whole event to adapt to an Ecological Exclusion Zone right in the middle of the area. On top of that the weather on the day presented its own challenges, particularly to Gavin’s shelter.

Everyone knows the happy ending of this story… WSX came 3^rd, which in the Trophy competition, means we are in the final.

Early on the Committee decided to support members so we could field a team in the final, which is in South Gare, Redcar on Sunday 14^th September.  The plan is to take a minibus up on Saturday 13^th September, stay in a local hostel, eat in a local pub, compete on the Sunday then return in the minibus. WSX will pay for entries as normal and additionally will subsidise the trip by around £45 per head, meaning the cost to members will be £45 each. Some members also plan to make their way there.

If you are interested in going, but haven’t let me know, just drop me an email.

Wessex Events

Purbeck Hill Challenge – On 15^th February 2025 a combined Wimborne and Wessex team put on the first Purbeck Hill Challenge, covering Studland, Agglestone and the Purbecks.  The event, planned by Chris Turner (WIM), was a big success, with 86 competitors, many running in pairs, and many new to orienteering. We originally thought that the first event would lose a fair bit of money, due to high mapping costs, but this turned out not to be the case. The second event is on Saturday 14^th February 2026. Keep your eyes peeled for an article about this in the April edition of Compass Sport.

WRNL Bournemouth & Chines – On Monday 17^th February 2025 we ran a night event on Julie’s new Bournemouth Town and Chines map.  With a turn out of around 40, covering what turned out to be a challenging and varied area.

What’s Coming Up

Summer Series (MapRun and Physical Events)

This is now underway, with Scott’s Poole Town Map Run event active in April.

Venues & Dates for MapRun League Events:

• Friday 4^th April until Sunday 4^th May – Poole Town (WSX) – Planned by Scott
• Thursday 1^st May until Saturday 31^st May – Ringwood (WIM)
• Sunday 1^st June until Monday 30^th June – Ferndown Forest (WIM)
• Tuesday 1^st July until Thursday 31^st July – Corfe Mullen (WSX) – Planned by Bruno – New map done by Jason
• Friday 1^st August until Sunday 31^st August – Dorchester (WIM)
• Monday 1^st September until Tuesday 30^th September – Bournemouth Chines (WSX) – Planned by Robbie

Venues & Dates for Physical Events:

• April Event: 1800 – 1900, Saturday 26^th April – Kings Arms, Wareham (WSX) – Planned by Agnes – Open on RSU
• May Event: 1100 – 1400, Saturday 3^rd May – Poundbury (WIM)
• June Event: 1100 – 1400, Saturday 14^th June – Blandford Stour Meadows (WIM)
• July Event: 1830 – 2015, Thursday 10^th July – Corfe Castle (WSX) – Planned by Oliver
• August Event – Puddletown Forest (WIM) – tbc
• September Event: 1830 – 2015, Thursday 11^th September – Bisterne Close (WSX) – Planned by Rob

Saturday 7^th June 2025 –Canford Heath UKUL Event

Dale Paget is the planner for this prestige UK Urban League event. The Event Centre is at Ashdown Leisure Centre. Starts are 11.30-13.00. Bruno & Julie are joint organisers (Julie on the day of the event). Karen French is controller.

We still need more helpers on this event, so please let me know if you are available.

4^th/5^th October 2025 – 3^rd Purbeck Weekend

A big weekend for WSX, with our Dorset Delight on Studland Dunes on the Saturday and Swanage and Durlston on the Sunday. Jon is planning day 1 and Roger on day 2.  Julie is organising day 1 (and coordinating whole weekend), Ian is organiser for day 2. The Swanage and Durlston maps are being linked together by Nick Nourse.

Welcome to the first chat of 2025.  It has been a busy winter since the last one in November, with the Wessex team in action all over the place as our main Winter season unfolds.

Events are the lifeblood of the club, and Wessex have a good reputation for putting on interesting and challenging courses.  This takes a lot of work by many club members to make them a success, and much of this happens behind the scenes. Thank you for your continued support.

We have had new planners recently with Martin, Oliver & Robbie.  Please talk to them if you fancy planning…. We are always looking for new members to have a go.  They would all say (I think!) that experienced club members helped them every step of the way, so there is nothing to fear.

In addition, I’ve included a couple of reports from club members that I hope you find interesting.  If you want to write about an event or some aspect of orienteering, then just let me know.  However, to be honest I will approach members too!!

STOP PRESS

Congratulations to Lyra and Esk on their selection for the England team going to Interland (Steenwijk, Netherlands) in March 2025.

Wessex Events

On 10^th November 2024 we had our SW League event at Holmsley and Bisterne Close, successfully planned by Lyra and Jolyon, and organised by Roger. Just over 160 entries to a much loved area of the New Forest.

On Saturday 14^th December 2024 was Yule Poole, which was a Regional night event.  It was designed to fill the gap left by the Brighton City Race.  Sadly the number of entries, at 58, was down on what we hoped for, even with the promise of hand-made mince pie prizes, but everyone enjoyed it, running on Gavin’s excellent updated map.  Scott did a cool video of the event start which you can look at on youtube by following this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WSB2VefaCM

On Saturday 4^th January 2025 the rearranged Night event at Studland was held.  45 hardy souls turned out in the grim conditions. Robbie & Martin were virgin planners and did a great job.  See their report later in the chat. Roger did a sterling job of the organisation on a wet, windy and cold night.

On Saturday 11^th January 2025 team Wessex delivered a double whammy at Coldharbour with a local day event followed by a night league event. Great events capably planned by Roger for the day event and Jon, the reportedly tough night event, based out of the Silent Woman pub.

On Saturday 25^th January 2025 Wessex put on a local event at Blackwater.  This was the second reintroduction of “informal” events, with limited courses, allowing new planners to have a go.  Oliver was the man with the plan (with Julie as his right hand woman), and everyone enjoyed the very wet terrain.  Someone commented that an informal event takes as much organising as a normal event though!

On 2^nd February 2025 was our Dorset Delight at a newly mapped Affpuddle and Sares Wood.  WSX and WIM shared the mapping costs for the area. Jolyon planned the courses which challenged pretty much everyone, with the many climbs, and few paths. After struggling to find suitable parking, Julie decided to use hard standing parking kindly offered by Babcock, which seemed a wise decision having seen all the pictures of recent quagmires.  The shuttle bus system worked well, but meant we had to add £2 per entry to cover costs.

Stockholm August 2024 Report – by Lyra

After a summer of Scandinavia racing, I was looking forward to some quality training with lots of friends from across the country. Having arrived in Stockholm a couple days before the camp to do some relaxing and sightseeing, I was very much excited to arrive at the club hut and start what was to be a gruelling but fun 10 or so days. The terrain was incredible, and the races allowed us to put it all to the test and compete on some proper orienteering terrain. It has to be said that I think that camp was the most tired I have ever been due to the sheer volume of public transport and panic on losing my wallet! Not only did we orienteer, but we had the opportunity to do a lot of swimming and jumping off diving boards, as well as taking part in a body pump session the night before our first race (some of us had very severe DOMS). On our rest day we ventured out to the theme park which was quite terrifying to be truthful, so I left to get some Italian food in Stockholm! The terrain varied in difficulty and runnability, with the highlight being able to pre run the 25manna courses in arguably the best terrain of the camp! Thankfully the weather was glorious and no training was rearranged.  As always on these camps, it was being able to spend time with friends you rarely see that made it even more memorable. It was the most tiring but fun camp I have ever done and I have made lots of memories to last a lifetime. This camp wouldn’t have been possible without the support from the coaches and funding so thank you!

First Time Planning at Studland Night Event – by Martin

Despite having orienteered (on and off) for the last 30+ years, I had never planned a course or indeed understood what would be involved in doing so.  So when Robbie and I were asked to plan the Studland night event, we eagerly agreed.

We started with the feedback from James and Roger’s night event in February 2024, which was mixed but mostly positive.  The quicker runners finished in less than an hour, so we probably needed a longer course. The slower runners found it tougher, so we probably needed to make some controls easier to find.   And with 20 points for each control, competitors arguably didn’t need to think about route choice as much as they might if a couple of higher value controls had been strategically placed to tempt runners to venture further afield or out of their comfort zone.  So we decided to try and avoid a loop (if geography permitted!) and introduce different value controls to make competitors think about route choice.

Roaming the dunes and heathland during the late summer looking for potential control locations and checking that the map was still up to date was time consuming, but necessary given that many changes had been made in a short period of time.  One week we were using a solitary gate in the middle of the beach as a control site, the next it had been unexpectedly removed!!

Choosing the control locations and then assigning different points to each was time consuming and profitable for the ferry company, but fiendishly enjoyable!!  Robbie was in his element playing with Condes and the OCAD software (as an Apple Mac user, I was rather helpless in this respect!) and he enjoyed creating and tinkering with the map.  As controller, Roger provided very helpful feedback and suggestions on our draft map throughout the creative process, and Tim kindly updated the map – who knew a single-looking tree could be a copse!!  Despite the fact that we had never done this before, we never felt that we were fending for ourselves, which was very reassuring – and thanks to the wonder of Strava, we were able to tag control sites and then double check that we had got them in the correct location, which was invaluable and gave us complete confidence that each control was in the correct location.

Despite the change of dates and the lousy weather, I think we achieved our objectives with the event.  Our only major disappointment was not finishing putting the controls out by 4.30pm, which was our aim.  So would we do it again?  Absolutely yes…. but maybe individually next time!!!

What’s Coming Up

Wessex Region Night League (WRNL)

We are 10 events into this, with Wessex just having the Bournemouth Chines event remaining on Monday 17 Feb.  Entries are now open on race signup on a brand new map, planned by Julie.

Purbeck Hill Challenge

The first jointly run (WSX and WIM) Purbeck Hill Challenge is on Saturday 15^th February 2025.  It is something new for us, and is a hybrid of orienteering and hill navigation.  Interest has been good, with solo and pairs entering on 6 different courses (short, medium and long with technically easy and advanced navigation.

Whether you walk or run, come and enjoy a day out in the Purbecks. Check out Scott’s video of the terrain (in case you need reminding of what a beautiful place we live and run in) https://youtu.be/sDSM0jYur8g

Summer Series

Jolyon is working on the 2025 Summer Series with Wimborne.  Format will be the same as last year with one real and one MapRun event per month from April to September.  Details will be available shortly.

See you soon!

Welcome to my first chat as Wessex Chair.  I’m following in Jolyon’s excellent footsteps but can’t guarantee the same detailed orienteering content which we have become accustomed to.  I’m lucky that the club is in excellent health, and that is down to everyone playing their part.

A lot of this chat is summarising what happened at the AGM, plus some other information on future events, just to keep everyone in the picture.

I’m open minded about what communications you want as members, so if you have any views let me know, whether good or bad.

Deeside 2024 Report – by Esk Medlock

2024 Deeside was just outside Aberdeen. We had the opportunity to run on incredible areas such as the Balmedie sand dunes and in the forests of Loch Varr. It offered amazing coaching and experience, as well as fun activities and many rivers to swim in, plus good laughs with friends.

The week got off to a rocky start, thanks to many plane delays and missing trains, but this did not stop us from having the best time.

The main focuses of this week were all around plan, direction and picture, as well as compass activities to increase our confidence in compass bearings. We were also able to run a night event, which featured lots of singing around the course, and a sprint event which included a maze course.

Other activities were swimming in lidos and wild rivers, a bilberry picking competition, singing campfire songs with our friends from the German scouts, nightly games of werewolves, a coaches v athletes football match as well as staying up all night on the last night.

Thank you SWOA and WSX for supplying funds to allow me to go on camps such as Deeside and have a once in a lifetime experience.

Our Goals

Our goal as a club is to put on interesting events, allowing member to get involved in planning, and organising. Plus, we are trying to identify new areas to run in, and are investing in new maps, produced by professional mappers, that we can use for years to come. We are not a big club, but we are able to punch above our weight thanks to the enthusiasm of all our members.  We want to continue to be a friendly club, and are keen to welcome new members.  We are very fortunate that we have a thriving group of younger orienteers, who are also very successful.

Committee Changes

It has been 2 months since the September AGM where I took over the reins from Jolyon.  I’d like to thank him for his 4 years hard work and dedication. There were some other changes on committee. These were:

• Andy Eydmann has managed to prise Roger Crickmore’sfingers from the purse strings by taking over as Treasurer, after a sterling job for the club for 10 years.  Thanks Roger, and welcome to Committee Andy.
• Jolyon and Roger, both clearly anticipating time on their hands, have taken on Fixtures and Membership respectively.
• In his absence, Jon Brook also volunteered to be on Committee, which was a pleasant surprise for him.  
• Additionally, we wanted to ensure the views on our younger members were represented on Committee, and OliverHeckford has agreed to do this.  If any other of our younger members also want to do this just let any Committee member know.

Committee now looks like this:

• Bruno Smith – Chairman
• Gavin Clegg – Vice-chairman
• Jolyon Medlock – Fixtures
• Andy Eydmann – Treasurer
• Roger Crickmore – Membership
• Sheila Gold – Club Secretary
• Julie Astin – Permissions
• Tim Houlder – IT Support & Results (and map custodian)
• Jason Falconer – Coaching
• Alan Hooper – Electronic Equipment
• Oliver Heckford – Young Member Representative
• Jon Brooke
• Rob Hick

The whole Committee is dedicated to making Wessex a great orienteering club, but we need everyone’s good ideas and suggestions.

One thing the whole Committee appreciate is that when it comes to our events, all members throw themselves into helping.  We couldn’t run our events without this support, so thank you.

Awards

At the AGM we made the club awards.  Congratulations to all the winners:

• Emma Heckford – Charlie Morton award for most improved Junior
• James Crickmore – Chairman’s award for services to the club
• Jon Brooke – Ian Horsey trophy for performance in the last year

Future Events

Over the past few years, we have tried to establish a rhythm of events throughout the year, and this is what we are aiming for:

• Purbeck Weekend – Every 2 years, next in 2025
• 2 informal events per year, to give new planners opportunities
• 3 Regional Events per year (including Dorset Delight and SW League Event)
• Part of Wessex Region Night League (4 WSX events)
• Summer Series in conjunction with Wimborne
• We are also working with SOC, to be part of a new NewForest League (where we will incorporate one or all of our informal events)
• One off events (e.g. Purbeck Hill Challenge in conjunction with Wimborne)

See you in the forest somewhere!